Few of My Favorite Things.

Every year, I find myself returning to old Christmas habits.

My beverage choice goes from latte to peppermint hot chocolate (with lots of whipped cream!).

My Spotify playlist changes from G-Eazy/blackbear/Jaymes Young to Christmas tunes featuring all the classics, and then some.

My closet switches from pencil skirts and crop tops to polka dotted skirts and ugly Christmas sweaters (are they ugly though?). 

My fireplace goes from empty to full of fire.

Weather goes from freezing rain to (hopefully) lots of snow.

My desserts go from, well, cookie to cookies.

These are just a few of my favorite things when it comes to Christmastime.

This year has been no different. Although I find myself exceedingly overwhelmed and my schedule far busier than usual, I still manage to find time to enjoy these little things that make Christmas, Christmas.

It's such a special time of year and some things will just always remain the same.

But they'll be new traditions as well, which is an exciting part of growing up.

And so I ask you:

What's your Christmas tradition?

Do you have a favorite Christmas movie (for me, it's The Polar Express and The Grinch) you watch every year? Do you attend that annual Christmas party or participate in a little late night eggnog (I'm talking the alcoholic kind)?

Or is it something like wearing the same holiday skirt every year (and then vamping it up with a low cut top)?

What? I couldn't help it. I was drinking hot chocolate and wanted to channel my inner "Cocoa" Chanel...

10% Chance.

Every morning, after my scheduled stretch and movie style yawn, I reach over to my bedside table and check my phone.

Not for text messages (seriously, who would text me?), not for social media updates, but to see if there's a chance of snow.

We're now on the countdown until Christmas and we have been gifted with not snow, but rain. I've seen the snowflake icon on my weather app so many times this month, but as the days wear on, it slowly disappears and eventually diminishes altogether.

90% chance turns to 40%, turns to 20%, turns to 10%, turns to 1%...

But I don't lose hope. If I've learned anything about myself, it's that I'm one of those people who believes and thrives in the 10%.

90% chance I’ll graduate from my college with a job? Nah, I'll be part of the 10%.

90% chance that the handsome tall glass of water over there completely disregards the fact that I’m one helluva catch? Nah, I’ll believe he’s playing coy and is secretly imagining a romantic feature with me but is too shy to approach me. 

90% chance its not gonna snow? Nah, I'll plan the day like it's gonna snow.

Today was one such day. I woke, checked the weather, saw that disappointing "10% chance of snow" update, but nonetheless got ready with the belief that maybe, just maybe, it would snow.

And it did.

My sister was so sweetly braiding my hair and we noticed movement outside of our window. Lightly, ever so lightly, snow was beginning its descent downward. It was trying really hard, definitely an effort to snow in bigger bursts, but it was snow alright. 

I knew it. I just knew it!

Things tend to work better for me when I’m part of that minority mentality. Following the crowd, the trend, the popular belief has never been my thing. 10% isn’t 0% in my book, so why wouldn’t I believe that it could snow?  

Just like anything else, I believe in the power of positive thinking and that one makes her mark by thinking precisely opposite of what the majority believes (the 90%). How do we make a change, a difference in the world, if we think like everyone else? 

It doesn’t always work, but in this case, it did. And the feeling felt snow good.  

I even wore white for the occasion!